Quantum phase transitions in the interacting boson model: Integrability, level repulsion, and level crossing

Abstract

We study the quantum phase transition mechanisms that arise in the interacting boson model. We show that the second-order nature of the phase transition from U(5) to O(6) may be attributed to quantum integrability, whereas all the first-order phase transitions of the model are due to level repulsion with one singular point of level crossing. We propose a model Hamiltonian with a true first-order phase transition for finite systems due to level crossings. © 2003 The American Physical Society.